Franso

Making it out of the hood of Dandora was a do or die battle for Franso who was born there in 2001. Franso’s passion for music was what helped him though the tough times of his life and this has enabled him to find his place in this world. We linked up with him to talk about his days in Dandora, his passion for music and his most recently released album “The True Son Of The Soil”.

Karibu sana Micshariki Africa kaka Franso. Introductions first, who is Franso, where are you from and what do you do?

Asante sana Micshariki Africa. Franso is a Kenyan rapper, Producer, and songwriter from Dandora, Nairobi Kenya.

Tell us about yourself, where were you born and lived, and where you attended your primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. How many were you in your family, and what was your childhood like growing up?

I was born in a place called Maili Saba, Dandora around 2001 and then we moved to Dandora Phase 5 for a few years before moving again to phase 3 and then we finally ended up settling in Dandora Phase 2.

I Went to Dandora primary school and my secondary was Dr Mwenje High School in Kariobangi South. We are six in our family four sisters and two brothers. It was a rough childhood growing up around gangs, guns, drugs, and violence. I spent almost half of my childhood working at the Dandora Dumpsite collecting plastics, Firewoods, and metals to sell so that I could feed my family. My Mom worked as a cleaner in a local school but earned very little. She could barely feed the whole family.

Take us on your musical journey. How did it begin for you until this far that you have reached?

Hmm, I started my musical journey I would say around 2006. Rapping in school and playing drums before Joining Ukoo Flani Mau Mau’s rap academy ‘Eastlandos’ around 2007 for one and half years. In 2009 I decided to quit Eastlandos and joined Wafalme rap group in Mathare and Huruma. After 4 years Wafalme crew separated and then I decided to go back to Dandora and start my own rap group called Dandora Music. The group consisted of Elisha Elai, Dennis Msito, Fode Gesaka, Chris Oyola, and others. In 2018 Dandora Music decided to take a hiatus break and that's when my production journey began.

What were the challenges that your younger you faced while trying to make it the hoods of Dandora and how did you overcome them?

Challenges growing up in Dandora were Peer pressure, Police brutality, Drugs, Guns, and Violence.

Tell us about the first song that you recorded, how was it and how was the song received?

The first song that I ever recorded was a peace song called Pamoja, I do not have a physical copy but it's available on Reverbnation.

I was still part of Wafalme crew back then when I recorded it (my first song). MajiMaji produced it. It received a lot of airplay on Ghetto Radio and Capital FM. Shout out to Eve D. Souza and Joe Muchiri from Capital FM, Robo, Rangi ya Thao, Rapture The Sayantist, Lion, and Mbusi. They supported us so much.

How much did being around the Ukoo Flani Mau Mau crew influence and inspire you people?

Being around Ukoo Flani Mau Mau inspired me to write more, freestyle, beatbox, and understand Hip Hop in depth.

What difference did it make to you when you managed to attend the various music schools in Europe and America? How did this affect your life as a person, artist, songwriter, and producer?

Traveling and meeting musicians and producers from other countries like the US, Germany, and Sweden really changed my mind a lot, it made me start taking music and life very seriously. I have learned many things that I could not learn back home.

Skills, Beat making, Mixing and mastering, Song Writer, Rapper, Vocal production, Guitar, Piano, Social Media Marketing. In this age where people are obsessed with knowing one skill/profession and sticking to it, what made you diversify your skills and how did this impact you as a person and artist too? I think music production drives you to learn other things.

As a music producer, it is good to know basic piano and understand a bit of business-side music. You don’t need to be a pro but it's important to understand the basics.

You have worked with former members of Dandora Music recently. How does it feel to know that you are all still pursuing your dreams regardless of the different paths towards the same? How is it still working with them?

Yes, it feels good to be able to do what you love and I am glad that we are still in touch and we’re able to support each other where we can. I am happy to see them growing every day.

Stepping Stone Records what are you people up to there?

It's an independent record label that I started in 2021. I haven’t signed anyone yet but maybe I will soon.

You came to my radar when I heard the song “Blessings” ft. former Dandora Music member Elisha Elai and rapper/crooner Nem-R….

I would say that the song “Blessings” officially opened the door for me during my music production journey. The process of recording was so fun. Nem-R really came through with great vocals and Elisha did not disappoint. Shout out to Yo Alex for mixing and mastering the song.

What is your creative process like from when an artist links up with you up to when you complete a project?

I like to make my artist feel comfortable. Sometimes an artist would prefer already made instrumental and some would prefer to come with live instruments in the studio and create everything from scratch.

“Music For Real”…how much does music mean to you looking back from where you came from to where you are now? How did you end up having veteran emcee Oksyde on this project and how was it working with on this project?

Man, I love this song so much; I would say it was more about timing. Oksyde is very talented and he is so humble. I sent him the beat and he liked it. 3 days later, he sent back his verse.

Let us jump into your latest project “The True Son Of The Soil”. What inspired this project and the title of the album?

The album title was inspired by African beauty, No matter where we go we will always come back to our soil which is Africa. I wanted to do something that would make me a proud to be African.

How did you come up with the concepts and features from the project? What are your favorite tracts from the project?

I wouldn’t want to be too picky because I love everything on that album, I would say I Wanna be,Worth It, Music For Real and Side Mirror are my favorites, I didn’t really have a concept, I was just randomly creating songs and having fun. It was later that I realized that I am actually having an album. I did not plan any collabo most of them just happened.

Once again on this project, you linked up with former Dandora Musix rapper Msito on two tracks on your album; Side Mirror and Side Mirror Remix ft. The Mumbua. How was it working on these two songs with these talented musicians?

It was really a great experience for me working with The Mumbua and Msito. They are both very talented and humble. They blended very well together and it was a great experience to see them both in the studio writing and recording together.

In which genre does your album fall because it was a mixture of so much good music I will be doing it injustice to put it in one category…

Haha i think afro Pop or afro sounds will suit better.

What next after “The True Son Of The Soil”?

I’m currently in the process of recording another album. I will announce the release date soon.

How do you hope to influence not only Dandora, Kenya and East Africa from what you have learned in your musical journey overseas?

I would like to create a sound that will influence both Africa and other continents and I would also like to collaborate with artists from different African countries because I believe that African musicians has a unique sound and I would like to explore it and fuse those sounds in my next projects.

From what you have seen about the music industry abroad, what are they doing differently that we can apply to our industry so that we can improve not only the quality of our music, distribution, events, and the business side of music?

Artist abroad are working so hard and they support each other. An upcoming artist with 200 Instagram followers is making a living out of music abroad. People want to listen to your music and they do not care about your following unlike back home in Kenya.

Sometimes when you approach an artist for collabo, they first look at your number of followers on social media before accepting your request. If you do not have, more than 1,000 they think you are not going to help them. I think we have a lot of Ego.

We need to have unity and support each other instead of hate. We should be proud of our sound and push it globally. Let us learn to support one another.

As we wind up kindly share with us what you would like us to know about Franso that we do not know about you.

I’m very social and ready to work with anyone. I will always support where I can.

Share with us your social media handles and streaming sites. Shukran for your time Kaka.

 Karibu Sana.

Facebook: Francis Demesi (Franso)
Twitter/X: @Fransomusic
Instagram: @iamfranso